Prosecutors Refute ‘Passion’ Killing
A Florida man who stabbed his girlfriend to death and then drove their children to school has been convicted of second-degree murder after prosecutors successfully argued his actions were premeditated, not a crime of passion.
On May 29, 2024, Farel Torres, 38, fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Vanessa Santiago, 34, inside their apartment. He then left her body on the bedroom floor before taking their two children to school. Hours later, Torres, hysterical, called police, telling a dispatcher, “I stabbed her in the head… I stabbed her ’cause I was mad.”
At trial, however, Seminole County prosecutors Domenick Leo, Jacob Polk, and Sarah Mian presented evidence to dismantle Torres’ claim of a “fit of passion.”…